


I’m Not Asking

by cdenzelj



Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 02:35:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29306610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cdenzelj/pseuds/cdenzelj
Summary: Nick meets his girlfriend’s father... in prison.
Kudos: 2





	I’m Not Asking

Nick took a deep breath to steady his nerves. When it didn’t work, he took to pacing the room. _Why is it taking so long?_

_Relax, it’s a big prison, precautions and whatnot._

_What are we even doing here? He’s a felon. Why do you care about what he says?_

_I don’t know, I just need to._

His ear prickled at the sound of chains on the other side of the door. He took another breath and held it, curling his fingers around the back of the chair.

DeVere Gillett was a tower of a man, standing head and shoulders over the two guards attending him. He was equally proportioned across the chest and in the heaviness of his legs. Small veins spiderwebbed against the skin of his arms, disappearing somewhere under his red jumpsuit. His broad hands were restrained against his waist, and Nick took note of the neatly trimmed and cared for nails. His greying beard was similarly well-groomed. He looked nothing like Natalie, save for the intuitive, clever emerald eyes.

Nick couldn’t help an icy chill race down his spine. _This man broke a man’s vertebrae one by one for hurting his daughter._

_Which you will never do. Relax._

_But holy shit!_

_Relax._

Gillett regarded him with a courteous tip of his head. “Mr. Stokes.” His voice had a low timbre, and the faintest hint of a french accent.

Nick responded in kind, moving around the side of the table. “Mr. Gillett. Thank you for your time.” One of the guards closed the door. “I don’t think those are necessary,” he said, and the other guard unlocked Gillett’s handcuffs. The pair took up a defensive spot on either side of the door, thumbs hooked in their holster belts.

“Appreciate it,” said Gillett, extending his hand to shake Nick’s. “What brings you all the way to this frozen hell?”

Nick’s gaze shifted to the guards. “I think we’ll be fine, guys. If you just wanna…”

“We’ll be in the hall,” one said quietly, eyeing Gillett as he sat down. “Any sign of trouble—“

“We’re all cool here,” he assured him. Gillett’s mouth twitched in thinly veiled amusement. Everyone was absolutely terrified of him. The guards disappeared and Nick sat near Natalie’s father. “It’s about your daughter,” he said, threading his fingers together. His deep mahogany gaze bored into Gillett’s. “I want to marry her. Start a family with her.”

Gillett leaned forward, narrowing his eyes at him. “Not one to waste any time, are ya?” Nick shook his head. “And you thought you’d ask my permission? Why would a cop care what a convicted murderer thinks when he asks something like that?” he asked, gesturing between them.

“Truth be told,” said Nick, dropping his tone, “I respect what you did. I can’t _condone_ it, you understand…” Gillett studied him carefully. “But I can’t say I wouldn’t’ve done the same to my daughter’s abuser.”

“He messed her up,” he replied, drumming his thick thumb on the table. “I heard she went after another freak. Even after seeing what it got me.”

“She didn’t really know what she was doing. We call it non-insane automatism. Kind of like sleep-walking. She had an episode and did what she wanted to do to Roe all these years. Now that she’s strong enough, her mind is free to act out that fantasy. I’m sure it’s a dream she’s had tons of times. What you did… you thought about it.”

“Lot of good it did me,” he muttered. “Daughter’s getting married, thinkin’ about kids… _My_ grandkids.” He rubbed his hands over his face, and Nick regarded him kindly. “Look, I know you,” he said, his gaze softening. “She talks to me, tells me everything. And I’ve looked into you myself. A lot.” Nick shifted uncomfortably. “Don’t get too nervous, Kid. I have a lot of time on my hands. You’re what? Forty-five?”

“In August, yeah.”

“And you’re planning on three babies she said?”

“Yes.”

“And that doesn’t concern you at all? That you’ll be in your sixties when they go off to college and your life with her can start. That doesn’t bother you?”

“Sir—“

“DeVere.”

“DeVere… My best friend, like a brother, died about six years ago now. I’ve lost so much in my life, a lot of friends that died either because I wasn’t there to back them up, or they felt my life was somehow worth more than theirs.”

“And you’re concerned about wasting it?”

Nick sensed the suspicion in his tone. “I don’t want you to think I’m rushing into this because I’m afraid. I’ve had my entire life to make up for their losses. And I’ve spent so much time fixating on doing this right, and only doing it once. Because I don’t want to end up like him, I don’t want to wonder who my baby should be spending more time with, navigating a legal minefield to get my time, coping with the heartbreak of having loved someone so deeply, and to have it end up not enough…” He sighed, sitting back against his chair.

I’m rushing into this, I’ll admit… but it’s because my heart can’t wait.” DeVere tipped his head. “I didn’t come to ask your permission, but to introduce myself, and to hope you’ll accept me. But I _will_ marry her, and if I could’ve done it twenty years ago, I would’ve. I can’t wait to work on a family with her. To me, that _is_ my life I imagine with her. I don’t care how old I’ll be when they go off to college, because it’s the _building_ I want the most. I want to have her back through everything. I feel secure and safe with her, knowing that she’d choose ten years of therapy over divorcing me, that she’d never keep our babies away from me.”

“You believe she loves you that much? I believed that about her mother, too.”

Nick shook his head. “No, _belief_ means there’s doubt. I _know_ she loves me like I love her.” DeVere lifted his chin. “We’re both messed up. We both have pain and trauma, but helping each other through it has been the best thing, the healthiest choice I’ve ever made. And it helps we both think we’re out of each other’s league,” he said with a smirk.

“Well, as long as you both spend the rest of your lives making it all worth it.”

“I fully intend to.”

“I know you to be a noble, affable, brave man, with an affinity for children, an empathy for her, a powerful sense of protectiveness, a good sense of humor… Honestly… I can’t imagine a better man for her.”

Nick felt a rush of warmth and relief flood his body. He let out his held breath. “Thank you, Sir, it means the world to me.”

“Well, don’t think too much about my opinion, I’m not the beacon of matrimonial happiness.” Nick grinned at his wry joke. “Just know… No one’s unreachable. Even from in here.”

“Don’t I know it,” he sighed.

“Does your mom or dad have red hair and green eyes?”

Nick chuckled. “What?”

“I mean, as a biologist,” he said, waving his hand dismissively. “Out of curiosity.”

“Oh right. Uh, my mom does. My dad looks like a skinny version of me.”

“Ah. Good, your kids’ll be a good mix of you an’ her. You two’ll do good.”

Nick’s heart pulsed hard, radiating a familiar heat in his arteries. “It’s occurred to me.”

“I wish I could be there. I missed out on being a dad, I’d give anything to be a grandpa.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Hmm?”

“Would you do it again?”

Gillett’s eyes flashed, his jaw muscle flinching as he grit his teeth. “Every _goddamn_ day.” He pointed his finger at Nick. “But it’s on you now. Protect her. She can’t be strong all the time, and that’s when the bad stuff usually happens. And that’s when she’s gonna need you. Don’t do what I did, or there’ll be no one left.”

“Thought you said no one’s unreachable?”

“I gotta die sometime, Son.”


End file.
